Japanese Style Eggplant Risotto
2 tablespoons oil
1 medium onion, chopped finely
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 (12 ounce) block tofu, diced (silken or firm, depending upon your preference)
1 small eggplant (or 1/2 large), diced
1 1/2 cups arborio (short grain) rice
handful dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes
big splash light soy sauce or teriyaki
big splash rice vinegar
1 bunch bok choy, chopped
2 sheets toasted seaweed (nori), torn into 2" squares, divided
splash sesame oil
1 teaspoon miso paste
1 vegetable stock cube
big handful sesame seeds, toasted
handful cilantro, to garnish
1. Heat oil in a large saucepan on high. Add onion, when translucent, add garlic, ginger, and ground coriander. Add tofu and eggplant, stirring until browned.
2. Add rice and stir, covering with the oil already in pan. Add mushroom with soaking water, and top with soy, rice vinegar, and extra water until well covered (water should come to about 1" above the food).
3. Add bok choy, and 1/2 the nori. Cover and turn heat to low, stirring occasionally. When the rice grains are soft, stir until most of the liquid is absorbed.
4. Add sesame oil and miso paste, and rest of nori. Mix through with sesame seeds. Serve with garnish of cilantro.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
This was okay, leftovers the next day were better. It was an interesting marriage of textures and flavors, but probably won't make again.
So very good! I followed the recipe pretty much exactly - except used regular shitake mushrooms (not dried) and kale instead of bok choy. Such a unique recipe - definitely a keeper.
mm yummy! this is so good! it reminds me of risotto/fried rice/tofu eggplant stirfry/miso soup :)
i had to change a couple things, because of what i had in the kitchen.. it is as follows:
short grain brown rice instead of arborio rice
a whole pack of fresh sliced mushrooms instead of dried shitakes
dried wakame instead of nori
flax seeds instead of sesame
i used 4 baby bok choy, a large chinese eggplant, and made my own stock with salt, nutritional yeast, and kombu..
but man its so good! mixing in the miso at the end really makes it pop.. and i sprinkled fresh sliced green onions to serve as well as more flax seeds..